Wheellock calibers

[WRussell]

One of those "duh - oh" moments occured a while back...

The flintlock has the tumbler behind the breech, since the cock goes forward into the pan, but a wheellock has the "tumbler" directly under the touch hole. No wonder they typically are small caliber??

Anyone have pics of a large caliber wheellock and what they did to make it work - like make the wheel diameter bigger?

 

[ChrisPer]

Wheellocks are quite wide from the side of the barrel to the lockplate. The calibres were the calibres of the time, and I dont think they were constrained to be small. Rather, the wheellock allowed smaller calibres for more convenience; they were made for a very discriminating market.

 

[wulf]

It may not be origional, but I made a 22 cal
wheel lock with a 4 1/2" barrel. very small but
still maintained the proportions necessary to
be correct. Feels right and shoots great...So,
the shape is stable regardless of caliber,,Now,
this is just my opinion based on no facts what-
what-so-ever...

 

[Leonredbeard]

WRussel,
I have the wheellock book from The Royal Armouries. There are calibres in there from .31 to .74, and everything in between. Soooo...go for it. whatever caliber you want, make it! My pistole barrel is .75, so it will be on the large size. The barrels of the pistoles are longish, so mine at 12 inches will not be overly long.
volatpluvia